Microfinance is the provision of small loans and savings facilities in small amounts. It is an effective way for poor people to increase their economic security. Unfortunately, a majority of the world's poor do not have access to formal microfinance services. Many have to turn to informal moneylenders who charge exorbitant interest rates. Without a safe place to keep their money, they are vulnerable to losing their valuable savings. The need to find a safe place to park their savings is so strong that people are willing to pay others to take on the responsibility. Slightly more than 26 percent of the country's population is urban, and in 2001 more than half of the urban dwellers lived in 299 urban agglomerates or cities of more than 100,000 people. It is quite ironic that the people who require financial help the most are the ones who have little access to banking services.
April and May this year saw the State of Maharashtra, the economic powerhouse of the country groping in darkness, with power shortage of more than 22%. In fact, every region is facing this problem with an average power shortage of 11.7% across India in 2004-05. The situation is so alarming that the Prime Minister has made a personal appeal to the states to initiate more reforms in the Power sector which is witnessing a critical phase with the passage of the new Electricity Act. The Act is designed to kick start wide-ranging reforms to ease this infrastructure bottleneck. Some of the reformist measures taken through the act are license-free generation and distribution, allowing companies to set up integrated operations, which imply that a company can have operations in Generation, Transmission a well as Distribution of power. In addition to these measures taken by the government, NTPC has engaged Nord Pool and CRISIL for advising on setting up the country's first Power Exchange (PX).
The power exchange is an institution which is created by a regulatory framework whose main objectives are to employ and run competitive auctions of energy on a non-discriminatory basis and to ensure electricity supply at market prices. It is the counter party in every purchase and sale transaction, it manages the settlement process and establishes guarantees. It does not enter into any transaction on its own, as it is privy to sensitive information.
Willard Scott, Bob Brandon, King Moody, Geoffrey Guiliano and Joe Maggard. What do these people have in common? Well, t
hey are just five in a list of many more who have essayed the role of Ronald McDonald on television. A nanosecond is all it takes for the image of the red-haired clown in his bright-yellow jumpsuit to make people think of the McDonald's brand. Over the years Ron, as he is popularly called, has acquired an iconic status and has become the public face of the burger giant whose golden arches is the most widely recognized symbol in the fast food industry.
A look into the new wave of low cost airlines
Herb Kelleher and Rollin King came together in 1971 with a simple idea. They thought of the concept of a low-cost airline which would do what an airline is expected to do i.e. get people from one place to the other. It is often the simplest ideas that have the greatest impact on bottom lines. Southwest, with its uncomplicated business model, reported its thirty first consecutive year of profitability in 2004.
On the other side of the Atlantic, Ryanair came up with a low-cost efficiency driven model several years later in 1985. Today it carries more than 20 million passengers annually and is set to become one of Europe's largest airlines in a few years.
Marketing in a Crowded Marketplace
The creative Gurus of the advertising world would eagerly enlighten you any day of the week and probably twice on Sundays that half of the advertising budget of any organization is wasted, but ask them which half, and that's where your problem begins. In a fervent effort to explore the answer to this question, advertising agencies the world over are increasingly concentrating their efforts in one single direction - in going Off the wall: obviating the very concept of there being a sole direction.
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